The UR field hockey team came off two tough losses to Liberty League opponents Union College and Skidmore College this past weekend. Edged in a sudden-death overtime against Union on Friday and by Skidmore’s last-minute goal on Saturday, this series of defeats ended the team’s impressive seven-game winning streak that dated as far back as September. It has also ended the team’s hopes of going to the Liberty League playoffs this year, a feat they have not reached since 2005.
Saturday’s game against the Union Dutchwomen began with Union putting themselves ahead 2-0 with less than five minutes left in the first half. But sophomore forward Anna Dobrzynski knocked a shot in off of captain and senior forward Christi Bottcher’s pass to close the gap, making it 2-1 going into the half.
During the second half, the Yellowjackets continued to hammer shots at the Dutchwomen’s goalie, but to no avail. Finally the hard work paid off when freshman forward Shelby Hall shot one past Union’s goalie with a little over 12 minutes to go in the second half, knotting the game at two.
The game was then forced into overtime, where Union placed one in the back of the cage from eight yards out in the fifth minute to win the game and hand the ‘Jackets their first loss since falling to St. Lawrence University in late September.
‘Union had a tough defense,” Bottcher said. ‘They had some really strong backs. They weren’t a very skilled team, but they made up for it with aggression.”
The Yellowjackets had a good week of practice, and the captain could tell it was helpful.
‘We worked on quick restarts and blocking up free hits. I think that really showed in these two games,” she said.
On the heels of the loss to Union, UR faced the Skidmore Thoroughbreds at home Sunday afternoon. They stunned Skidmore with a goal only 71 seconds into the game on a shot tipped in by senior midfielder Amanda Case. Skidmore took the lead with two more goals, but UR tied the score at 2-2 with a goal by Bottcher, who moved down the field off of a give and go with Dobrzynski and sent it to the back of the net.
‘We had a great passing combination for the third goal,” Bottcher said. ‘Anna set that one up perfectly for me.”
After exchanging goals late into the game, Skidmore pulled aahead for good with a penalty corner, ending the game 4-3 with 2:25 left to go in the second half. Senior goalie Dani Pearson came up with seven big saves during the game, but Skidmore held a 13-4 advantage in shots, which proved to be crucial.
Case was proud of her team’s play against the ninth-ranked Thoroughbreds.
‘We played very well against both teams,” Case said. ‘Until they played us, Skidmore had only a total of three goals scored against them. So, we scored as many goals on Skidmore as all of their other opponents combined, which is something to be proud of… We proved to everyone that we can keep up with one of the best teams in the country.”
UR fell to fifth place in the Liberty League standings, with a 3-4 conference record and a 10-7 record overall.
‘By ending our conference play with two great games, we’re setting the base and tone for next season: a possession game, hard work, and aggressive play,” Case said.
UR finished its season last night with a 5-0 win over against SUNY Brockport.
The ‘Jackets saw this past fall as a stepping stone. ‘This season was full of a lot of bitter-sweet games games that we played exceptionally well, but just came up short in the end,” Bottcher said. ‘I predict great things for the program in the future. There is a lot of talent on this team. This season just didn’t swing our way.”
Latona is a member of the class of 2011.
